How the government shutdown has affected readers

Many agencies of the U.S. government have been shut down because
of a political budget standoff between President Clinton and Congress.

Here's what our readers have told us about the impact of the
shutdown (some letters have been edited for length):

Chilled by 'soulless glee' of the unaffected

What chills me more than the families that are suffering from
the direct effects of the shutdown is the soulless glee of those
Americans who are not affected. Calling people in trouble 'crybabies'
and gloating over public servants' distress is disgusting.

Federal workers do sometimes abuse their positions, and should
be punished. But the vast majority do their jobs, often for less
than the private sector pays, and everyone benefits, not just
the lucky or the crafty. It is the shameless or the soulless
that snicker over the misfortunes of others. Their mothers and
fathers should weep in shame over what monsters they have raised.
Causing pain to people is wrong. Doing it unintentionally is
bad enough, but doing it intentionally shows a moral decay that
ought to be intolerable.

- David Purdy, Baltimore

'Wake up . . . get real jobs'

If my employer said that I was "non-essential" and held
my paycheck for a month, I sure-as-Hell wouldn't hang around calling
him names! Rather, I'd polish up my resume and hit the pavement
to find a new job ASAP. The complaining and crying that many
of these furloughed workers have fallen into will only hurt them
in the long run.

You laid-off Federal workers, wake up! This is Nature's way of
telling you to get real jobs, and soon. The current situation
is not nearly as bad as it can get for you.

- Jeffrey Hunt, Phoenix

Shame on the federal crybabies

The shutdown has helped me. It has allowed me sleep easier knowing
we have leaders strong enough and committed enough to do the heavy
lifting needed to balance the budget. If they are successful,
my life will improve. It is unthinkable that we are leaving (massive)
interest payments to our children. I don't want to grow old knowing
I helped destroy the future for our children.

I say shame on the crybabies who work for the government, welcome
to reality of private sector employment..

-Bill Loken, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Well, there are those cheap air tickets

I have noticed no effect, but a friend of mine bought cheaper
airline tickets.

- Michael Gregory, Dallas

Two years of patient work gone in a flash

My daughter, who has medical problems and has gone through two
years of counseling and endless appointments with the State of
Florida's Vocational Rehabilitation Program, was finally approved
to start a vocational training program beginning Jan. 8. She even
had a job waiting when she finished school. Yesterday, she was
informed by her case worker that she wouldn't be able to attend
because of the loss of Federal funding. Since the program starts
Monday, she has little hope of a miracle interceding.

Two years of patient work and progress gone. Thanks House of
Representatives.

- Michael Jones, Gainesville, Fla.

No impact, but concern about left-biased media

I know that my story won't be considered because you and the other
left-biased big media are looking for nothing more than hard luck
stories to report and not necessarily the truth. To be totally
honest, neither I nor any of the everyday people that I have asked
over the past few weeks can tell you one single way in which our
lives have been impaired by the "shutdown of the government."
Does this tell you anything at all about the real state of big
government?

- Kelly Harrell, Tazewell, Tenn.

Shutdown sparks anxiety about the future

I haven't been affected yet but rest assured the anxiety and nervousness
is similar to sitting on the railroad tracks hearing the train
whistle but unable to see the train and knowing your going to
get killed it you don't do something. It's a disgrace and an
example of politics at its worst.

I wonder how long it would take to put together a balanced budget
if Congress's salary was used to pay for the thousand of people
unemployed because of their behavior.

- Ron Johnson, Orlando, Fla.

May leave federal government

I work for the federal government for several reasons. My father's
career was with the same agency I work for. I appreciated the
mission of the agency and felt that the security I gained from
federal employment was worth the lower wages that I receive. Now,
there is no mission, as the agency is now a political football.
There is no security as we have been experiencing demonstrates
and I still make half of what I'm worth. After 20 years I am ready
to chuck my seniority, benefits and retirement and go find an
employer who actually cares about people.

-Mary Anne Sanford, Portland, Ore.

Foreign woes I: Can't get back to USA

I am a UK citizen who lives, works and pays taxes in the U.S.
I work for a fortune 100 company. I came back to London for the
Xmas break to introduce my American fiancee to my grandparents
for the first time, and am now unable to return.

I need a new visa stamp in my passport, but the U.S. Consulate
Office in London is closed due to the government shutdown. This
means I have to wait in London until the Consulate reopens. I
am having to cancel the meetings, presentations and customer visits
I had planned in the U.S. next week. My fiancee will be returning
to the U.S. without me, and I do not know when I will be able
to return to my office and home.

-David Gee, Chicago

Foreign woes II: How to explain the budget problem

I work for the USDA in Vienna, Austria, on loan to an international
program in forestry research. No one has told me not to work,
but I can't reach anyone in my office back home. I assume that
my paycheck due in my bank yesterday was less than half of normal,
and my cost-of-living adjustment check here will also be smaller.
However, I have money in the bank, so my wife and I can survive
without difficulty.

The problem is that we cannot explain to our Austrian friends
and colleagues how the U.S. government can do anything this stupid.
They ask if it will save money, and I tell them, "Of course
not, this will cost a fortune in lost productivity, as well as
shutdown and reopening expenses!" So I continue to work,
partly in order to demonstrate that not everybody in the U.S.
government is an idiot. But perhaps I am idiot for working when
I may not get paid. There seems to be no easy answer to this question
and no easy answer to the budget crisis. The freshmen are running
things, and they are ruining them.

-Brian Payne, Vienna, Austria

Foreign woes III: 'No budget, no visa'

I am a student from Spain and I need a student visa to study an
MBA in Roberto Goizueta Business School (Emory University). I
start classes early in January and I won't be able to arrive on
time to class enrollment if this situation is not solved. Every
time I phone to the U.S. Embassy in Madrid the answer is the same:
"no budget, no visa".

-Ignacio Cava, Barcelona, Spain.

Foreign woes IV: Hong Kong lawyer cost $500

Since I live in Hong Kong, the shutdown has had little effect
on me. But it has cost me about $500. Instead of having something
notarized at the U.S. consulate, I had to pay a local lawyer.
Since it was business-related, the federal government will end
up footing part of the cost. Congress should also be shut down
and sent home.

-John P. Mark, Hong Kong

Foreign woes V: Peace Corps put on hold

Peace Corps Nicaragua has had to delay the entrance of new Peace
Corps trainees in Nicaragua. Twenty were supposed to come an.
3. Local contract staff is laid off and will not be eligible for
back pay. Volunteer support continues, but no new activities that
have been programmed

- Jim Schenck, Country Director, Peace Corps Nicaragua

Park supplier suffers 60% drop in business

I am a victim of secondary effects, I provide shell eggs to Yosemite
Park Concessionaire and to two of the roads to the Park. Due to
the closure my small business is reduced by 60%. We normally count
on the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday periods to help us through
the slower winter months. We may not survive this but we will
remember who in Washington received their paychecks and went on
holiday trips while we tried to figure out ways to pay our bills.

-Russ Adams, Mariposa, Calif.

Congress and the president are getting paid

I am a 31-year-old furloughed NASA engineer at the Dryden Flight
Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. I got only half of
a paycheck for January 2nd, but it does not cover all the household
bills. If the furlough goes on another two weeks, we will have
run out savings and have to cut into my two children's college
funds or get a loan to keep paying the bills

I basically support the furlough and the efforts of Congress and
the President to work out the new direction for this country.
The problem I have is that Congress and the President did pass
the bill to fund their salaries and benefits. That shows the government
employees and the American people where the real priorities are
in Congress and in the President!

It is a tough fight of the basic future of our country. Instead
of trying to place blame on the Republicans and/or the President,
USA TODAY and other media should be looking and evaluating the
differences and what effect each of the differences will have
on the future of our country if implemented.

But the media insists on fueling the anger of the people instead
of providing unbiased facts of the differences and the effect
on the future of our country.

-David Voracek, Lancaster, Calif.

Favors Republicans for taking tough road

The shutdown has not affected me in any noticeable way. Continuing
unbalanced budgets, however, will affect everyone.

It would be nice if the president would stop demagoguing and present
his own balanced budget using real numbers.

It would also be nice if the Republicans got a little credit for
having the guts to tackle what the press had previously referred
to as a political third rail, namely entitlements.

-John van Heusden, Osprey, Fla.

Favors president in fight for livelihood

I am very disappointed and embarrassed on the way our Congress
and our President is handling the situation. I am more biased
towards the President, though, because I don't feel that Congress
has the right to kill jobs this way. When I was in the Army we
were worried about lives being lost, now that I am a civilian
we have to worry about livelihoods being lost. The odds of us
losing our jobs are greater than losing our lives. Who knows maybe
the lose of livelihood maybe our lives are close at hand.

-Mike Myers, Gaithersburg, Md.

Shutdown will force busy travel schedule

I was declared "emergency essential" and now work the
midnight shift. There is no guarantee we will get paid on and
semblance of a schedule. The far greater effect is that I have
to travel to sites outside of Washington to install and service
equipment all over the United States once we do get a budget.
In essence I will have to do an entire years of work in whatever
time is left between the date my agency gets a budget, until the
end of December. All of this because of political posturing ...
and my wife and son are "thrilled" about this impending
concentrated travel.

-Martin McSween, Fredericksburg, Va.

Balanced budget is more important

I am a Defense Department employee working in Dayton, Ohio. I
have felt little to no ill effects from the shutdown and feel
that the lack of a balanced budget will cause the USA more harm
than this limited shutdown ever could.

-Matthew Tracy, Vandalia, Ohio

'Wish I hadn't bought any gifts for Christmas'

Since I am a federal employee it has greatly diminished my sense
of well being for obvious reasons...getting half a paycheck sent
a shock wave up my spine. Now I wish I hadn't bought any gifts
for Christmas. I am paranoid about spending any money at all...I
think had Congress and the president had had a deadline date to
settle the budget crisis (a date past which THEY would no longer
be paid), it would be settled by now. I feel my work is not very
important to members of Congress and the president because of
all this.

-Tracy Greene, Atlanta

What shutdown? Everything is quite normal

I am a 26-year-old single white male living and working in Philadelphia.
The shutdown has affected me in no way whatsoever. I wouldn't
even know there was a partial shutdown unless it was reported
by the media.

Furthermore, no one I know personally or otherwise has been even
slightly affected by the partial shutdown in their everyday life.

And finally, there are no indications that the city has been affected
in its daily operation, in fact, it all seems quite normal.

-Mark Dlutowski, Philadelphia

Government - like business - should balance budget

While attempting to startup a small business and comply with the
myriad of applicable government regulations, the shutdown has
proved to be a major obstacle. It continues to amaze me that the
so-called leaders of our country can't agree to balance the federal
budget (even in a seven-year time frame). Certainly, my business
will fail if I'm unable to balance my own budget within a single
year!

I'm disgusted with our party system of government; it serves it's
own interests, not the people's. Fundamental in establishing any
budget is deciding what the organization's needs are. Our government
is unable to determine which services are necessary to ensure
the welfare of the people. How can we expect to balance a budget
that contains services which cannot be agreed by our legislators
are necessary?!

My point is...let's all agree on the services that the government
should provide. You know, stuff like should the government provide
for the common defense or should the government feed, clothe,
and house people? Next, let's rank, or prioritize, those services
using established prioritization criteria. Then apply a percentage
of the budget to each service. That's it!

The budget is complete. Sounds simple, doesn't it? I'm sure that
it's way too simple for our government! After all, look at how
complicated our government thinks the tax system ought to be!
But that's another story.

-Kirk Van Dyne, Knoxville, Tenn.

Sob story I: This solicitation is shameful!

I haven't been impacted in the least!! It is absolutely shameful
that you're soliciting sob stories online. What's next? A Sally
Jesse session where we can all feel each others' pain?

-Jonathan Arata, New London, Conn.

Sob story II: Not noticing trim to federal 'sumo'

The so-called shutdown (only 10-20% of the federal workforce is
affected) hasn't impacted me in the slightest. I realize you're
trying to drum up sob stories to over dramatize this issue, but
the simple fact is that there is so much useless federal bureaucracy
that expecting people to notice this minor furlough is like asking
if I'd notice if a sumo wrestler shed a couple pounds.